


Short and Sweet

by MoonlitLilium



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Baking, Fluff, It's Ashe's Birthday!, M/M, Mercedes and Annette are great, Pre-Timeskip, boys bein cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-15
Updated: 2019-10-15
Packaged: 2020-12-16 20:15:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21042131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoonlitLilium/pseuds/MoonlitLilium
Summary: Caspar's making a mess in the kitchen all for a special day tomorrow.





	Short and Sweet

The kitchen is in despair. The sun has long since set, but a fire was still ablaze. Bowls were strewn across the counters, all filled with varying consistencies of batter. Flour was powdered everywhere and eggshells littered the floor. 

A loud yelp echoes throughout the dining hall as Caspar attempts to pull what appeared to be a finished cake out of the oven. With no protection. The dish fell, clattering to the floor as Caspar waves his hands in the air. It didn’t break thankfully, but managed to flip cake side down. Caspar knew he wouldn’t be able to serve this one either. He found the oven mitts and carefully placed the dish next to the other mishaps. One was charred beyond recognition. Another looked strangely like soup. 

Caspar sighs and decides to take a break by sitting on the counter. He surveys the mess he made in the span of only a few hours. He honestly felt a little impressed. The pride quickly fades to disappointment. He hadn’t expected baking a cake to be this hard. You just take some ingredients, mix ‘em up, then bake, right? Yet, every attempt he’s made so far has come out inedible. Caspar isn’t normally one to give up, but as he looks at the scattered bowls and spilled flour, his motivation begins to seep away into the air around him. He decides he’ll just clean and go to bed for the night. He figures he can always work up something else early in the morning.

While in the process of scraping one of the charred dishes, Caspar hears the large heavy doors to the dining hall open, letting in a small gust of cool night air. He’s surprised to see Annette and Mercedes enter. 

“Caspar? What are you doing here this late?” Annette asks, furrowing her brows.

Mercedes lets out a small laugh and begins to study the state of the kitchen.

“You’re trying to bake something, aren’t you?” She eventually says. Annette beams and rushes over to Caspar. Mercedes follows calmly.

“Oh! You’re trying to bake something? What for? I never pegged you as the baking type.” Caspar’s cheeks lightly flush, the floor had never looked more interesting. Mercedes doesn’t miss this, but continues to listen.

“I-it’s nothing. I thought it looked fun and just felt like trying it out.” Annette raises an eyebrow.

“Isn’t it a little late for that? We do have class tomorrow you know.” Caspar can feel the heat rising to his face as he lightly tugs at his collar. Mercedes giggles softly and leans onto the counter.

“This is for Ashe, isn’t it?” she says slowly, rendering Caspar a sputtering mess as the dish he was scraping clatters to the floor.

“How did you know!?” His voice echoes again. Annette’s eyes widen at the two of them.

“Wait, all of this is for Ashe?” Annette lets out a small gasp, her hand raising in front of her mouth, “Caspar, do you have feelings for Ashe?” Caspar looks stunned. Was he that easy to read? Oh, god what if Ashe already figured it out too. Another giggle from Mercedes, brings Caspar back out of his head.

“I don’t suppose you’d like some help? My dear Annette and I both love to bake.” She smiles softly. Annette starts to jump excitedly.

“Yes, yes! Caspar we’d love to help you!” Caspar ponders, his gaze straying to his many failed attempts. He supposes some help would be nice. Then maybe he could actually get this cake done before morning. He nods to himself and begins to roll up his sleeves again.

“Then what are we waiting for? Show me the way!” 

Mercedes and Annette begin to gather all the necessary ingredients as Caspar finishes cleaning the rest of his mess. The two work efficiently, measuring and mixing with movements that suggest their experience in the kitchen. Caspar simply watches in awe. Everynow and then Annette or Mercedes ask Caspar if he would like to mix one of the ingredients in and he would happily oblige. It was fun baking together. They had a short fight with the flour, spreading it even further around the kitchen. Even bits of their hair were plastered with it. Once the cake was in the oven, they chatted about all sorts of things. Last month’s mission, other baking adventures. Mercedes and Annette even asked Caspar about what he liked about Ashe.

“He’s just so...gentle with the world in a way that I’m not. I’ve never seen anyone care so genuinely and deeply. When I talk to him it’s like he calms me somehow. I just--I don’t know, it’s hard to explain.” Caspar looks down bashfully while the two girls give him knowing smiles.

Decorating the cake goes deep into the night. Caspar wanted it to be perfect. He insisted on doing all the decoration by himself, so Mercedes and Annette stood back and watched. His frosting was layered unevenly and his drawings were a bit...unique, but everyone would be able to see the heart he put into this cake. It was small, only enough for about two people, but that was perfect enough for Caspar.

“I don’t know how to thank you both, but this means a lot to me,” Caspar beams. Mercedes shakes her head.

“Don’t worry about it, you almost had it figured out, we just happened to come and help. You did most of the work.”

“Yeah! I bet Ashe is going to love this,” Annette gestures to the cake. Caspar then carefully covers the cake and picks it up, ready to return to his room and sleep. He thanks the two again and bids them good night.

The next morning comes too quickly, Caspar had barely gotten any sleep. His eyes wander his room until they catch the shiny silver of a platter cover. He smiles. He can’t wait to see Ashe. Caspar quickly gets dressed, then once again, he carefully grabs the platter and makes his way toward Ashe’s room. Ashe is likely still asleep or just getting out of bed, giving Caspar the perfect time to surprise him.

It isn’t until he stands in front of Ashe’s door that Caspar feels nervous. He worries Ashe might not like the cake, or deeper down, that he doesn’t accept Caspar’s feelings. Caspar thinks back to the night before with Mercedes and Annette. He remembers when they asked him what he liked about Ashe, and then all his nerves slowly melt away. Caspar knows Ashe. He knows that even if he didn’t return Caspar’s feelings, they could still be friends, because that’s just the kind of gentle person Ashe was. Caspar knocks

It takes a minute before Ashe comes to the door, bedhead chaotic and still in pajamas. Ashe yawns and rubs at his eyes.

“Caspar…? Why are you up so early?” Ashe studies Caspar slowly. He looks absolutely wrecked, yet somehow beaming with energy. Ashe’s eyes land on the platter in Caspar’s hands. Caspar catches this.

“I came to say, Happy Birthday, Ashe. I made you a cake,” Caspar removes the platter cover, revealing the fruits of Mercedes, Annette, and his labor. Ashe lets out a small gasp. “Mercedes and Annette helped me quite a bit too,” Caspar sheepishly scratches the back of his neck. Ashe’s carefully takes in the sight. It was a small one tier cake with white frosting and light blue trim. Ashe could tell Caspar was the one who has decorated the cake. It contained a lot of his character in it. What really got him was the crude drawing of the two of them holding hands. The biggest smile began to fill Ashe’s face as his heart swelled with warm emotions.

“Caspar, I love it. Thank you so much. This is one of the best birthdays I’ve had in a long time.” Ashe gives Caspar a tight hug, careful not to knock the platter out of Caspar’s hands. The two of them stay like that for some time. Soaking in each other’s scent and feelings. Caspar releases first and gives Ashe a toothy grin.

“How about we eat this bad boy now? I’m starving.” Ashe laughs and nods in agreement.

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little something for Ashe's birthday. I'm also submitting this for the Ashe Birthday Event being hosted by the Viola Odorata Zine.


End file.
